Considerations on Chaos
by katia1
Summary: Ok, here goes. Trance, Harper and Tyr crash the Eureka Maru, fall down a hole in the ground, blunder around in the dark and grapple with the mysteries of the universe. But there's more to it than that, honest! Thanks to Jaimi for checking this for me.
1. Part One

Disclaimer: Andromeda and it's characters are the property of Tribune Entertainment. I am just borrowing them, and this is not for profit. Joseph De Maistre is some potty old French guy that I have to read for my history class on Monday. I made up the rest!  
  
Spoilers: None, but there are some episodic references, especially near the end.  
  
Rating: PG-13  
  
  
Considerations on Chaos  
By Katia  
  
"In the vast domain of living nature there reigns an open violence, a kind   
of prescriptive fury which arms all creatures to their common doom..."   
Joseph De Maistre, Earth dweller. ( 1753-1821 AD)  
  
...  
  
PART ONE  
  
Trance glanced over at Harper, as he defiantly manipulated the controls   
of the Eureka Maru. She could sense that he was annoyed. She knew that   
he had wanted it to be just them on this little trip, just him and her.   
However, Dylan had insisted that Tyr came too. "Just in case he is   
necessary".   
  
"For what?" Harper had asked Dylan. "To scare the hell out of everyone I   
try to trade with? Y'know, we can get on just fine without Mr Will To   
Power here throwing his weight about." Here he had thrown Tyr a self   
assured glance. "No offence, but you kind of cramp my style..."  
  
Tyr had glared back, but hadn't said anything. He hadn't relished the   
thought of being stuck in a small ship with only Harper and Trance for   
company, but he had not been adverse to the idea of a planet visit.   
Sometimes he found the Andromeda, dominated as it was by Dylan and   
his chirpy "all will end well" philosophy, repressive. He needed to be   
reminded of the reality and chaos of the universe, however grim it was.   
  
So the three of them had set off for a well know, but rather notorious   
trading port on Malthus 7. Harper and Trance knew exactly what they   
needed - parts for the ship and medical supplies. Tyr just looked forward   
to breathing in some independence when he got there. However, at this   
moment, Trance was starting to wonder if they were going to get there at   
all. They were experiencing some rather severe turbulence.  
  
Tyr strode purposefully onto the bridge. "What the hell is going on?" he   
asked.  
  
"Did you fix the stabiliser drive properly?" demanded Harper, urgently.   
"We shouldn't be experiencing this kind of disturbance entering into the   
atmosphere if you did?"  
  
"Of course I fixed it. I did exactly what you said."  
  
"You can't have done!" There was a slight element of panic in Harpers   
voice. "Damn it, Tyr, I'm loosing control of this freakin' thing...if you   
didn't fix it...we're...we're..."  
  
"Move over, boy!" thundered Tyr as he moved towards Harper to seize   
the controls.  
  
"No!" Harper held on fast as the ship shuddered violently "Y'know, I   
can handle this just as well as you can...Now, brace!"   
  
Tyr realised there was no time to argue and swiftly strapped himself in to   
the nearest seat. He cynically thought to himself that if he died now he   
must have deserved it. He, Tyr Anasazi had been stupid enough to place   
his life in the hands of Seamus Zelazny Harper.   
  
Harper madly stabbed at buttons and switches and then pulled back on   
the controls with all his strength. He had to get the ship on a level when   
they came down. He didn't want to die now and he didn't want Trance to   
die. She was the most precious cargo in the universe. Seconds away from   
impact, he glanced over his shoulder. Trance had gone a slightly paler   
shade of purple and was holding on tight to the side of her seat. But the   
look she shot him filled him with confidence. There was a glimmer in   
her eyes that told Harper they were going to live through this   
one...probably.  
  
"Look where you're going" screamed Trance. Tyr leaned across and he   
and Harper pulled back on the controls together. There was an enormous   
crash, but the ship was level as they hit the surface of the planet and   
began skimming along, tumultuously bouncing over rocks and abrasions. Shortly after, it shuddered to a stop.  
  
"Great!" shouted Harper, his voice quivering with a mixture of extreme   
relief and anger. "Just freakin' great! You couldn't even carry out that   
one little task. I knew I should have done it myself..."  
  
Harpers voice trailed off a little as Tyr seized him by the collar and   
hauled him up so that their faces were level. "Be quiet or I will break   
your neck."  
  
"Yeah? That would be really helpful in the circumstances...you're gonna   
need a genius to get you out of this one..." Harper was about to point out   
that he was the only genius present so it would be useful to all of them if   
he remained alive. However, although Tyr had now released him from   
his grip, there was a dangerous look in his eyes that made Harper swallow   
his words.  
  
"This isn't helping!" said Trance, hurrying over and positioning herself between Tyr and Harper, both of whom looked like they were seconds from exploding. "It doesn't matter whose fault this was...we've got to get fixed and out of here. Beka's not going to like what we've done to her ship..."  
  
"Damn Beka...and damn the lot of you." Tyr turned and strode off the   
bridge and kept walking. Trance ran after him.   
  
"Tyr, don't go. We really need you now...what if Harper can't fix it all?"  
  
Tyr shot Trance a look that made her stop in her tracks. He slammed the   
airlock shut behind him and left the ship.  
  
...  
  
When Trance got back to the bridge, she found that Harper had already   
gone into overdrive. He was franticly dashing from one repair job to   
another, and there were tools and parts of the ship lying everywhere. On   
seeing Trance he began barking out a list of tasks for her, inaudibly fast.   
Ignoring her pleas to slow down, he disappeared for some time into a   
matrix of wires and sparks behind a rather dodgy looking piece of   
equipment that was letting off smoke and hissing ominously. All Trance   
could think of to say was a rather feeble "Be careful."  
  
She set about accomplishing as much of what he had told her to do that   
she could. However, when Harper finally emerged there were two more   
pressing problems that she felt she should confront him with.  
  
"Our communications are down. I can't get through to Rommie."  
  
"Yeah. I know. I'm gonna have to reboot the system. Even when I do,   
it's going to take a while for it to come back on...there's some circuits   
that have been broken. It might take some fixing...but, hey, don't worry,   
babe, Harper's got it all under control."  
  
Trance nodded. She knew he could sort that out. "And, I think I should   
go and find Tyr."  
  
Harper raised his eyebrows sceptically. "Don't bother, he'll come back.   
And if he doesn't...hey, look, we don't need him. We're doing just fine   
here, you and me..."  
  
"That's not the point. Dylan will be angry we let him go..."  
  
"Dylan knows that Tyr is big and ugly enough to look after Tyr. We   
didn't ask him to leave, did we? He's probably having a GREAT time   
out there fuming and stomping about in the company of the person he   
loves the most - himself!"  
  
"Sorry Harper, that's a possibility, but I just need to know he's OK. I won't go far..."  
  
"No wait!" Trance was already leaving the room. "If you really must go,   
I'm coming with you."  
  
"It isn't necessary - I'll be just fine. The trading port is on the other side   
of the planet. There's nobody out there." Trance knew her words were in   
vain. Harper didn't want to leave his repair jobs unfinished, but she knew   
he wouldn't let her go alone. She assured him it wouldn't take long.   
  
It better not, thought Harper.  
  
...  
  
Outside, the planet was rocky and desolate, with only low-lying plant life.   
The atmosphere was thin, but breathable. The Eureka Maru had settled   
on a small, bushy plain nestled between the outcrops of dark rock.   
Getting it there had been an amazing feat of steering, explained Harper.   
It was, naturally, nothing to do with luck.  
  
There was no obvious sign of Tyr and calling his name reaped no positive   
rewards. Some of the rock faces that they would need to negotiate to get   
out of the clearing were steep and looked impossible to climb. Trance   
suggested that they tried to head off in the easiest looking way, as this   
was most likely the way Tyr had gone.  
  
"Oh, I dunno," said Harper, sarcastically. "One leap and our handsome   
hero would have been out of this place in a flash. These piles of rocks   
wouldn't have held the problems for him that it does for us lesser   
mortals."  
  
"Don't be silly," said Trance, although she did wonder if he was right.   
Tyr could have possibly hauled himself out by any route. Still, she   
began to climb up the least daunting looking rock face and Harper   
followed close behind her. On reaching the top they stopped, settling side   
by side and slightly out of breath. They surveyed the scene in front of   
them.  
  
There was little variation in the panarama, apart from that in the distance   
the black rocks began to grow into huge, foreboding mountains. An eerie,   
windless silence prevailed. Trance felt Harper take hold of her hand and   
squeeze it gently.  
  
"Tyr?" she called out. Her voice sounded tiny as it echoed into the   
distance. She turned face Harper, moving slightly closer. "He can't hear   
us. He must be hurt..."  
  
"Nah. He's just sulking. There's nobody else here. He'll come back..."  
  
"He wouldn't just ignore us."  
  
"Maybe he thought we needed some time to ourselves...you know, that   
would be kinda nice...". Trance was so near to him that he could feel   
her warm breath against his face. Should he lean closer? Should he...  
  
Trance didn't smile, but her eyes were sparkly and inviting. He knew   
she was concerned for Tyr, but she also seemed to be very aware that the   
one sitting here with her was Seamus Harper. He wanted her to know he   
would not leave her. Harper took a deep breath. He needed something   
good to say, but for once words failed him.   
  
Then the moment was gone. Something had caught Trances attention in   
the shallow valley below them. "Look!" Harper turned his eyes to where   
she pointed. He could see what looked like the entrance to a cave. The   
vegetation in front of it was cleared. It hadn't been done well that recently,   
but something or someone had obviously made the effort to make it   
accessible at some point. By the cave appeared to be a small sign with   
writing on, but it was too far away to read. However, Trance had already   
started off down the rocks towards it and, as soon as he realised, Harper   
followed.  
  
  
....  
  
It took some time to reach the cave. It was further off than it looked and,   
even once they had climbed down the rocks, they had to fight their way   
through the tangled mass of plant life that filled the valley and violently   
attacked their legs and ankles. Eventually, they were close enough to read   
the sign.   
  
"The League of De Maistre?" read Harper. "What the hell is that?"  
  
"I have no idea," said Trance. "But they might be able to help us find   
Tyr."  
  
"Uh, uh," said Harper. "No way. I'm not going getting myself mixed up   
with any Leagues of anything. Y'know, they're normally into morbid   
stuff, human sacrifice, that sort of thing. And I'm not too partial to that   
line of amusement. It's not to my taste..."  
  
Trance sent him a pleading look. "We've got to just see. I won't go too   
far. I promise."  
  
Trance headed off into the cave. Harper hesitated, but he knew he wasn't   
going to let her go far without him. He soon followed her into the   
blackness.   
  
"Tyr?" called Trance, hopefully. "Tyr, are you there." Neither of them   
could really see where they were going, but they could feel the cave   
around them was damp, and the ground was moist and sandy. Despite the   
darkness around them, they could see a shaft of light coming through a   
few metres ahead of them, lighting up a cavern. "We'll just go that   
far..." whispered Trance. But, they never made it. Inches from the   
chamber that they saw filled with filtered daylight, the path leading   
before them was broken by a deep pit, invisible in the murk.   
  
Trance screamed as the ground gave way beneath her and she reached out   
desperately, trying to grab onto the roots of the plants that she could feel   
brushing against her as she fell. Harper simply couldn't believe what was   
happening to him until he landed with a thud on soft ground. It was only   
then he felt a sharp pain in his wrist, which he had dashed against a rock   
on the side of the pit on his descent. He grimaced and clutched his hand,   
feeling the warmth of the blood. "Trance, where are you? Are you OK?"   
he called out in the darkness. Clambering up, he could just make out her form, twisted in a heap, having fallen awkwardly. Panic shot through him. Was she badly hurt?  
  
"I'm fine," said Trance, and she righted herself almost instantly. Harper   
would have spent more time wondering how the hell she did that, if he   
hadn't suddenly felt kind of faint. He sunk to his knees, holding his   
injured arm. "But, you're not," said Trance, hurrying over. "You're   
bleeding."  
  
"Yeah." was the only reply that Harper managed.   
  
"I need to bandage this up..." In the dim light, Trance worked quickly.   
She tore off the sparkly material from the bottom of her trouser leg into   
neat strips, and wrapped it around the injury. Harper meekly protested   
about her ruining her clothes, saying something about how she needed to   
look nice for him and all the other guys who liked to look at her. She   
giggled slightly, but felt rather uneasy. She could sense that they were   
not alone in the darkness. And she was right.  
  
As her eyes adjusted to the gloom, Trance could make out another form,   
lying motionless on the floor of the pit. Without letting on to Harper   
what she had seen, Trance edged over to investigate. Just as she had   
thought, it was Tyr. Thankfully, she could hear him breathing. He was   
unconscious, but alive.   
  
"Harper," she whispered. " It's Tyr. He's hurt. We've got to get him out   
of here."   
  
Harper was not feeling at his best. His arm hurt like hell and he was   
slightly dizzy. He could barely drag himself to his feet and definitely had   
no idea how to deal with the information that Trance had just given him.   
"Yeah...and? What do I do? Toss him over my shoulder and carry him   
out of here? Get real. He's freakin' huge! Even if we could carry him - I   
mean, between us - how the hell would we climb up...there?" he said, referring to the steep walls of the pit they had just fallen into. "Look, I   
just don't know what to do right now..." The sarcasm in his voice turned   
into something softer and more vulnerable. "Trance, I just can't think...of   
anything...I'm sorry. OK?"  
  
"'s'alright." Harper felt something brush gently against his cheek. Was it   
Trances hand, or her tail? He couldn't tell and he hadn't seen. "There's a possibility there is another way out," said Trance, softly. "I can feel a breeze coming from that direction...not from above. There must be a passage way. Do you think you are well enough to try and follow it? You must get back to the ship and call the others while I stay and look after Tyr. Can you do that?"  
  
Harper figured he had little choice. "Hey, I forgot, I'm a genius...I can   
do anything! How hard can it be..." He was quite impressed by his   
attempt to sound in control again, given the feeling of dread that was   
growing in the pit of his stomach. Using his uninjured arm, he pulled   
himself to his feet.  
  
"Maybe you should rest a little first?" ventured Trance.  
  
"Rest? Who needs rest...I can do this, baby. Just you hold on. I'll be   
back in no time...in a flash. You'll hardly know I'm gone..." He could   
now see the passageway, winding off into pitch-blackness. "Won't be   
long..." he said, his voice beginning to trail off.   
  
"Good luck," said Trance, rising and giving him a gentle hug, taking care   
not to jostle his bad arm. Then she kissed him briefly, but tenderly, on the   
lips. That, thought Harper, was almost worth crashing a ship and falling   
down into the bowels of some hellhole planet for. He hoped to build on   
this scenario at some future date, but he realised that the present was not the   
time. He knew if he didn't leave now, he wouldn't be able to make   
himself go at all.  
  
"Seeya, Trance," he whispered. He reluctantly broke away from her arms   
and moved off into the gloom.  
  
END OF PART ONE  
  
...  
  



	2. Part Two

  
PART TWO  
  
At first, Harper could see nothing at all. He blundered his way down the tunnel, feeling ahead of him with his uninjured arm. After a while, however, he could make out the route ahead of him, and it seemed that it was getting slightly lighter. "I must be getting near the way out, " he thought to himself at one point. Most of what went through his head was less optimistic, though.  
  
Not long after leaving Trance, a doubt crept into his mind about whether he should have trusted her judgement so completely. He had not felt any sort of breeze, or had any sort of inclination that this narrow passage, which he was now following, would lead him to the surface of the planet. He had trustingly, and maybe rather foolishly, done exactly what she had said without really thinking things through himself. He did not doubt Trance's good intentions, but wouldn't have it been better to wait and see if Tyr came around? He doubted that the Nietzschean was badly hurt, or that it would have taken him long to recover. Surely Tyr would have been able to help them get out an easier way? There must have been a better plan than this. The passage seemed to go on forever...  
  
Then he stopped dead in his tracks and his thoughts. Ahead of him he could see a vast cavern filled with light. He could tell from the way that it flickered that it wasn't daylight; somebody or something was lighting it up with torches. He remembered the signpost at the front of the cave and was hit by the horrible realisation that whoever the League of De Maistre were, they were still here.   
  
Harper almost laughed. How could he have been so stupid to imagine he could be so lucky as to miss out on that lot? Human sacrifice may have not been his style, but hey, neither had been a lot of stuff he had been mixed up in. He'd never been too keen on watching people he loved suffer horrible deaths, but that hadn't stopped it happening. If there was a God, he definitely had it in for Seamus Harper. What the hell should he do now?  
  
...  
  
About half an hour after Harper left, Tyr woke up. He was a little surprised to see Trance, and very surprised to find out where he was. He remembered going into the cave, but after that nothing. However, what most surprised him was that Harper appeared to have taken off, on Trance's advice, on some badly conceived rescue mission.   
  
"You told him to go...by himself. And he was injured?"  
  
Trance said nothing, but looked at him with an expression that was obviously supposed to convey some sort of seriousness and worry. As usual, she also looked rather cute, although to Tyr, this was not a positive attribute. He couldn't help wondering what was going on below that sincere, purple surface.  
  
"Do you know about the League of De Maistre?" he asked.  
  
Trance hesitated and then answered. "No. Nothing," she said. "I saw the sign and I thought they might help us, or that you might have gone to their community. But then we fell down here and, well, we forgot all about them. What do you know?" she asked?  
  
"I know they are a secret society. There are branches on many planets, but I have no real idea how large the organisation is. But a member of my pride, a cousin, had encounter with them and knew their ways. Their beliefs are loosely based on the ideas of Joseph De Maistre - an earth thinker who lived centuries ago. Some say that he foreshadowed Nietzsche...but I do not believe they had much in common."  
  
"Why not? Are they evil?"  
  
"From what I have heard most of them are just submissive. They believe all beings are weak and pathetic, and that the universe is governed by mysteries we cannot explain. Because of all the chaos, evil and suffering in the universe, they believe that must be the divine plan, and surrender to it, not even trying to fight it or understand..." Tyr broke off. He couldn't decide if all this explaining was worthwhile to a being like Trance. Either she was too silly to understand or...she already knew? Her expression was indecipherable.  
  
"What do you think we should do," she asked. "What if Harper didn't make it back to the ship?"  
  
Tyr rose to his feet. His head spun a little at first, but in a few seconds he was fine. He looked at the sides of the shaft down which they had fallen to see if he could pull himself up. Possible hand and foot grips were few and far between, but he knew it would not present him with much difficulty. "I can climb out of here," he said.   
  
"But, Harper..."  
  
"He might have made it back to the ship. It is not worth risking getting lost down here for just the possibility that he did not. If he is not at the ship...then I'll think of something else." Trance could see no purpose in arguing with Tyr, so she agreed. He crouched down, allowing her to climb on his back. Then, using all of his massive strength to pull the two of them up, he began to ascend the walls of the pit.  
  
It was only when they were about half way up that they realised that the passage above them was now lit. Standing above them were three men, all dressed in black leather and each holding some sort of primitive laser weapon. One of the men pointed his gun at Trance. With a slight smirk, he looked Tyr straight in the eye.   
  
"Just keep coming up, and maybe we will see no need to kill her."   
  
...  
  
Keeping himself hidden in the darkness of the tunnel, Harper peered into the lighted cavern. "If it was really bad," he thought to himself, "I will just have to try and find my way back and tell Trance there was no other way out. I mean, Tyr would probably have woken up by now, and...oh wow!"  
  
All thoughts of running away evaporated the instant that Harper saw the cavern and it's single occupant. The flickering light revealed that the jagged rocks in front of him gave way to a dark blue spring pool, besides which a young woman was preparing to take a bath. She had settled on a boulder, and had placed a book and some sort of towel carefully beside her. She was currently in the process of pinning up the cascades of dark hair that were tumbling over her shoulders. "Then," thought Harper, "she's gonna get her kit off!"  
  
Harper did not move, choosing to remain concealed in the darkness of the passage. Lost in the tide of lust that had swept over him, he had all but forgotten Trance and Tyr. He simply could not believe his luck - this sort of thing NEVER happened to Seamus Harper. No, he always got the crap stuff - nasty diseases, family bereavement, rejection by sexy computers, uncertain messages from the girl that he loved...no, he wouldn't think about any of that now. He was going to stand back and enjoy the show. "Hey," he thought to himself. "There is a God and HE RULES!"  
  
The girl began to slip out of her loose, white top. "Here we go..." thought Harper gleefully. Unfortunately, at this point his conscience began to have a violent argument with all his male instincts and that kind of spoiled the moment. "Damn it," he thought, averting his eyes for a second, "I didn't know I had a freakin' conscience...why do I feel so bad about doing this. Can't I have any fun?" The girl, still partially clothed, had slipped under the water. Possibly, this was the moment to introduce himself and ask her if she wanted to have sex...NO...he must ask her the quickest way out of here. He stepped out of the shadows.  
  
"Er...hi, there!"  
  
The girl screamed and grabbed her top, holding it in front of her while still in the water. "Who are you...stay away, please!" She paused, breathless, and took her first look at the young man who had emerged from the darkness. He didn't look too threatening, but you could never be sure. She didn't know whether to be angry or frightened, but her initial assessment of the intruder told her that anger would probably be the best defence. "Have you been watching me?" she asked, sounding fairly aghast.  
  
"Er...yeah. But, hey, I'm sorry...it's just that you were taking your clothes...er, well, I thought you were going to get naked. And you're gorgeous!" Harper could hardly believe he could be so stupid or so honest as to actually say that.  
  
"Oh my Goodness!" said the girl, and climbed out of the pool on the furthest side of the cavern to Harper. She wrapped her towel around herself and then turned and looked at him. She took a deep breath and made an important decision. "Look...my community is not far from here. If I shouted loudly...somebody would come. Then, when I told them what you did, they'd kill you." She paused and hoped she was doing the right thing by not shouting. "Look. I don't know who you are, and I don't know where you've come from. But, if you just leave now I will not tell anybody about this."  
  
Meanwhile, Harper was having a reality check. Watching quietly had been one thing, but that last thing he said had just been dumb. This wasn't Rommie or Trance, who he could kid around with. The girl was a babe, but he had no idea who she was, whether she was good or bad, or whether she was some alien mutant about to turn into some blood sucking slimy thing. However, the thought of going back into the blackness seemed even more daunting. "Seriously, I'm sorry. But, I can't leave, I'm not sure I can remember the way. Look, er...Miss," he decided that was a better thing to call her than Doll or Babe in the circumstances, "I need your help."  
  
The girl looked at him with a mixture of disbelief and intrigue. On her second assessment, this boy did not look like a threat at all. For a start, he carried no weapons. He was quite short, and his blonde hair was a disorderly mess that almost made her laugh. Furthermore, he was wearing the most ghastly shirt she had ever seen - a mixture of blues, oranges and greens - and wrapped around his arm was a piece of purple sparkly material soaked in...blood. On seeing this she frowned, but did not mention it.  
  
"Alright," she said. "I may be able to help you. But if I take you to my people, you must not tell them how we met. If you do, it will mean your death, and very possibly mine. Can I trust you to keep that secret?"  
  
Harper nodded and the girl beckoned him to come around the pool and follow her.   
  
....  
  
The three men ordered that Tyr and Trance should stand up against the rock wall, with their hands above their heads. Tyr was totally not amused and pretty much un-intimidated. Trance knew he was not going to stand for this very long. She had a nasty feeling what he was about to do may not make the situation any better in the long run.  
  
The older of the three men spoke. "I am the leader of the Malthus 7 Troglodyte community."  
  
"You're not the League of De Maistre?" asked Trance. Tyr shot her a "be quiet" look.  
  
"We are members of the League. We live by De Maistre's prophesies. Knowledge of the evil and suffering in the universe is the only truth, and all beings should be obedient to it."  
  
Tyr snorted in disgust. "Not all are so weak and blind. I demand you let us go. It will be in your interests to do so."  
  
" The divine plan is our concern - not our own interests. We must judge whether you deserve to live and, from what you have said, I do not believe you do. Why are you here? What are your intentions?"  
  
"We only have good ones," ventured Trance. "Ultimately, we're trying to restore the Systems Commonwealth."  
  
The men looked rather shocked, as if they were unsure how to respond to this news. Then the ringleader spoke: "He's a Nietzschean. They live by their own rules, not by those of some ancient commonwealth. I do not believe you." Here he pushed his laser weapon right into Tyr's face and laughed. This was a mistake. The aggressor had had no real contact in his life with a Nietszchean before and knew about their ways and strength only from stories. If he'd ever encountered one, he'd have known that if there's one thing a real life Nietzschean hates more than being pushed around, it's being laughed at.  
  
With one blow Tyr knocked the gun out of the man's hand and sent him flying across the room. Faster than any normal human could react, he turned on the other two, kicking the first forcefully in the stomach and landing the second a resounding punch on the nose. He tossed Trance over his shoulder and marched resolutely out of the cave, not slowing his pace until he reached the Eureka Maru.   
  
END OF PART TWO  
  
  



	3. Part Three

  
PART THREE  
  
Note: this episode's a bit "talky" and rather darker than usual, but please stick with it! It's kind of necessary to the development of parts four and five...  
  
The girl had led Harper away from the pool, down another long, dark tunnel. At the other end, they came out into a vast gaping cavern, filled with the sound of running water, and lit by the light of a thousand flickering torches. Carved into the rocks were dozens of little houses and the occupants of these appeared to be going about their daily business. It was a pretty amazing sight, and Harper couldn't help but stare, open mouthed, at the scene in front of him. The girl, who had introduced herself as Magdalena, laughed.  
  
"You haven't been to a Troglodyte community before, then?" she asked.  
  
"A trogla-what? Nah, I don't think I've had the pleasure," replied Harper, incredulously. "I mean, why live underground away from the light and the air. Look, I hope you don't mind me saying this, but it seems, well, kinda odd....but, hey, you guys like movies?"  
  
Harper had noticed that the focal point around which the community was arranged of the cavern was a wooden platform, behind which was a huge plasma screen. Magdalena seemed a little distressed by Harper's enthusiastic reaction to it. "Look, there are a lot of things about us I think you are going to find "kinda odd". You know nothing of the League of De Maistre?"   
  
Since he had met Magdalena, Harper had quit worrying about the League. Even though she seemed to think his life could be in danger, she hadn't looked like the sort who was into human sacrifice, and he had trusted her. However, the tone of her voice at this moment made him a little uneasy. "Is there something you reckon I should know about them?" he asked.  
  
"Come with me," said Magdalena. "I hope I have not endangered your life by bringing you here and that my brothers help you rather than kill you. I just want you to know that my intentions were good..."  
  
"Hey...I thought you said if I kept my mouth shut about me, er, watching you, I'd be OK!" At this point Harper noticed that as they made there way through the community, all the other people edged away. However, it did not seem to be him, the intruder, they looked at with fear. It was Magdalena. "Oh, great," thought Harper to himself. "What do they know about her that I don't know? At the very least she's probably got some sort of nasty disease, which I'm just bound to catch off of her...hey I'm not feeling too great, maybe I've already got it..."  
  
Magdalena ushered Harper into one of the rock houses and motioned to him to sit down. Harper suddenly felt incredibly tired and remembered how much his arm was hurting. In the rush of lust he had felt for this girl he had tried to ignore the fact that it did not seem to want to start healing and that the makeshift bandages were now almost totally soaked in blood. Magdalena glanced at his injury as she sat down opposite him. "I can treat that for you," she said  
  
"No," said Harper. "I'm OK. Seriously, it's just a scratch. Look, just tell me who you lot are, and how the hell I'm going to get out of here."   
  
....  
  
When Trance and Tyr realised that Harper had not made it back to the ship, Trance instantly wanted to turn around and go back for him. However, Tyr refused. He insisted that it would be foolish to attempt any sort of rescue until they had established communications with the Andromeda and secured some sort of backup.   
  
"But, Harper could be in danger right now," said Trance, her tail flicking about nervously. "What if those guys who attacked us got him. You know, he couldn't just thump all three and charge out of there, like you did. That's not a possibility for him."  
  
"I don't see why not. I thought your little friend was a genius," said Tyr in a droll voice, as he fiddled with the communication system. "Anyway, even if they do take him, they may not see need to harm him. The League are cowards. They only attacked us because they saw me as a threat. Chances are, they will not touch him before we get there with the others."  
  
Trance did not want to take that chance, but could see that Tyr was not going to be rushed into anything. "Why are they cowards?" she asked.  
  
"Because they believe that bloodshed and suffering are the manifestations of divine power; they think that is the only way that they can be...saved for some unlikely after-life. Rather than pursuing their own survival, or the improvement of the self, or even some notion of justice, they just surrender themselves to the violence and chaos of the universe...damn it...what has that boy done to this communication system. I can't see what he was trying to do..."  
  
"Go on," said Trance.  
  
"The highest power in each community is that of the executioner - although he and his family become feared and untouchable. The League believes that each society can only be controlled through this violence, and that all must witness the devastation. Every sin must be atoned with blood...but because they see that justice does not reign in the universe, that in war and peace the innocent suffer, they believe that this must be the way of God. So, they do not even care if the blood shed is innocent or guilty - as long as blood is shed."  
  
"So they would punish somebody who'd done nothing in the place of somebody who had?"  
  
"As long as it fed the blood lust of their God," said Tyr. Trance did not reply, and he was glad because he was trying to concentrate and was getting a little tired of her questions. Her company was a little more tolerable that usual owing to the sober mood that she had been in since finding Harper had not got back. He was not having much luck with his repairs, though. Perhaps she could be of help.  
  
"Do you know what Harper intended to do to repair this?" he asked, looking up. However, Trance was not there. Tyr searched the ship and came to the logical conclusion that the foolish little creature had gone to attempt a rescue alone.  
...  
  
Magdalena slowly explained to Harper that her people had originally come from a small European Kingdom on earth. One hundred years after the fall of the Commonwealth, bewildered by the chaos and devastation reaped by the Nietzscheans and the Magog, a small group, led by an ancestor of hers, had escaped here. They set up the Troglodyte community, safe beneath the surface of this planet. Her ancestors had ruled well, and justly, but they had never been happy. All that humans had held to be dear - their morals, their justice, their religions, had been shown to be false. Ultimately, good did not triumph and all did not end well.  
  
"Believe me, I can understand how they felt," said Harper.  
  
"Then, a few generations ago, we received some visitors who told us of the League of De Maistre. The news they spread did not make my people happy, but it seemed to give us some answers to all the chaos and suffering. They taught us that there is no answer."  
  
"Yeah? I bet it took a genius to work out that one!" said Harper sarcastically.  
  
"No - you don't understand. They saved us...they gave us back our religion. We could not reconcile the existence of the all-loving God our people had once believed in with all the horror that had happened to us. But...that was because we were trying to understand him. We need to recognise how small and weak we are and stop trying to work it all out. Those who have power to hurt and destroy...they must have been given this power by a God...and sometimes, the innocent must suffer...it's all part of the divine plan that we can never really comprehend."  
  
"OK...stop right there," said Harper. "If you're going to start going on about human sacrifice, there is one thing you should know. Seamus Harper is NOT innocent! I mean, back where I come from...the chicks just can't keep their hands off me. I couldn't be pure if I tried...so...so...I'm not gonna make much of an offering to your mad Psycho-God!"  
  
Magdalena couldn't help laughing. "I know that! You're a Peeping Tom too, remember."  
  
"Yeah!" said Harper defiantly. "See?"  
  
"We're not into human sacrifice, Seamus...may I call you that?"  
  
"I prefer Harper."  
  
"OK, Harper. But you have to know that my brothers, who currently govern us, keep to the rules of the League very strictly. All sins must be punished with blood. It is sad, but violence and suffering are the only things to have any lasting impact and power in the universe. They must be divine...so we must obey."  
  
Just then, a loud gong sounded outside the house. "Oh no...not now!" muttered Magdalena. She turned to Harper. "I must go outside. There is no need for you to come too...you look tired and you must be hungry. Stay here and rest...help yourself to some food. I'll be back as soon as possible." She left swiftly, leaving Harper somewhat bewildered. What had the girl been going on about? It didn't sound too cool, all that stuff about blood. And she still hadn't told him how he was going to get out of here. Despite his exhaustion, he was growing impatient. He turned and looked out of a carved stone window to see where Magdalena was going.  
  
...  
  
Outside, all the men, women and children, had gathered around the large plasma screen, and they seemed to be receiving an incoming message. To Harper's dismay, it was not from the Andromeda. On the screen, a man in black was making some sort of announcement that lulled the gathered crowd into a eerie hush. What happened next made even Harper, who had seen some pretty bad things in his time, feel sick with horror.  
  
The broadcast showed an execution, happening somewhere far away, presumably in another League community. A man was brought out, beaten brutally with a club, and then left to suffer before the executioner administered the final blow. At first, Harper thought it was some kind of violent movie, but he fairly soon realised what he was seeing was real. He flinched and looked away as the axe finally fell. What sort of sick people brought out their children to watch that kind of stuff?   
  
Then he saw Magdalena. She was standing apart from the crowd, as if overlooking the proceedings. When the gruesome images had finished she waved her had, as if to dismiss them. Nobody spoke to her; instead they shrunk away in fear. Magdalena did not look as if she was getting any pleasure out of this, but she was resigned to her role. She started back over towards where Harper was, but he had already decided that he was not going to wait for any more of her explanations. He was about to try and slip away un-noticed and find somewhere to hide, when the cavern fell silent again. Three men, all dressed in black, had entered at the far end. They seemed to have been on the loosing side in some sort of fight - all three were stumbling, bruised and covered in blood. Magdalena let out a cry and ran over to them. Unlike the others, they did not shrink away from her.  
  
"Right," thought Harper. "This is my chance." He edged towards the door, and peeped out, wondering where he could make for without being seen. However, on reaching the door, he realised that he was going to have to make a run for it. The three big guys were making straight for the house. Magdalena seemed to be running after them, calling them back. "Shit!" thought Harper, and legged it out of the door.   
  
On seeing him, the men began to shout instructions to the other Troglodyte inhabitants, who unquestioningly obeyed. Harper ran as quickly as he could, but he couldn't even remember the way he'd got to the house. His arm still hurt, and he began to feel dizzy as he ran. Surrounded by people, he realised it was all rather futile. He ran into one of the houses, and hid under a table.   
  
"Genius, plan, Seamus!" thought Harper to himself, as the three men appeared at the doorway. He initially grimaced as their gazes fell down on him in his rather ineffective hiding spot. Somehow he managed to respond with a cocky grin. "Er...hi, guys! Nice cavern you have here...er...it would make a great nightclub, y'know. You could make a fortune - have you ever thought of that?"   
  
One of the men leaned under the table and grabbed Harper by his injured arm, dragging him out. He bit into his bottom lip, trying not to scream out in pain. Magdalena ran in, and desperately tried to intervene.  
  
"Please...don't hurt him. He's done nothing wrong."  
  
"That is not important, sister" said one of the men, pushing her away. "Crimes have been committed against us by an outsider and the divine demands that blood must be shed in retribution."  
  
"Not him," pleaded Magdalena. "Why him?"  
  
"I'm sorry, Magdalena," said the elder of the men. "Sometimes, the innocent must suffer for the crimes of the guilty."  
  
END OF PART THREE  
  
  



	4. Part Four

  
PART FOUR  
  
What saddened Magdalena most was Harper's silence. In the short time that she had known him, she had come to realise he was not the quiet type. Saying something, anything, even if it was not quite the right thing, was his way of getting through the chaos. She had never met anybody quite like him, and she liked his company.  
  
But now he was locked away in a stone cell by her brothers and, when she went to him, he said nothing. And, she could think of little to say in return. "Maybe he knows?" she thought to herself. "Maybe he figured that I should have told him to leave and find his own way out, rather than bringing him here with me. Maybe he worked out that I must have done it for selfish reasons, because I was lonely, because everyone here shrinks away from me in fear. But I didn't think it would lead to this...I should have known."   
  
It was only when she tried to change the bandage on his injured arm that Harper responded to her presence. "No! That's mine. You can't take that. It's all I have left..."  
  
"But it's soaked in blood. And it wasn't even a proper bandage, it's some sort of rag...it looks like it was once purple!"  
  
"It's not a rag...it belonged to somebody. Somebody special who probably knows more about the universe than you and your lousy beliefs ever will!"  
  
"But I must change the dressing. It might get infected."  
  
"What does that matter, seeing as your brothers are going to mash me up for Saturday night entertainment? I mean, why don't they just get on with it? I'm getting kinda impatient here...I can't stand all this waiting around. Let's cut to the chase! So, are the kids gonna be allowed to watch this one or are they not up for the Live Action...they just catch it on the Big Screen with popcorn, right?"  
  
The slight relief that Magdalena felt because Harper had started talking to her again was much dampened by her distress at his words and the violence with which he said them. But then, who could blame him? "That might not happen," she said.  
  
"Yeah, right. Why don't I believe you? You said could help me get out of here. Instead you lead me straight in to the lair of your sicko brothers..." Harper broke off. He could have gone on, but, for once, there seemed little point. Magdalena looked genuinely upset, and he had no real desire to hurt her. He let her change the bandage, but took the blood soaked piece of Trance's outfit from her and held it in his other hand, staring at it. He'd thought he was going to die at several stages in his life before, and he'd felt some pretty strong emotions at those times: anger, hatred, fear. He felt all of that now, but it seemed almost insignificant compared to the pain he felt when he looked at that piece of rag. The thought of the being that had once worn that material filled his mind, his heart, and his soul until he thought they would burst.   
  
Magdalena looked at him with sadness and curiosity, but realising his spirit was with somebody else, she left in silence.  
  
....  
  
When she got back to her room, Magdalena threw herself down on the bed and cried that the universe was such a terrible place. After a short while, however, she began to think of think some strange things that wouldn't usually come into her mind. Did it have to be this way, was evil really the only answer to the mystery? Her sadness was still mixed with this confusion when she felt a hand on her shoulder. "Go away," she sniffed, assuming it must have been one of her brothers. The hand stayed put and she was about to push it away, when she saw it was small and delicate, with light purple skin and dark purple nails. Magdalena turned around with a start.  
  
The owner of the hand was the strangest creature she had ever seen with purple skin, pretty blonde and pink hair and a tail! But, she instantly knew that this strange girl was here to help when she saw what she was wearing: a purple, sparkly jumpsuit with the bottom of one leg ripped off. Realising this must be a friend of Harper she felt a small pang of excitement, and then...jealousy. The purple girl spoke first:  
  
"What are they going to do to Harper?"  
  
"Kill him, probably."  
  
"But he's done nothing wrong. You must tell them not to."  
  
"It does not matter. Crimes have been committed and it is the way of things that somebody...must....pay..." her voice trailed off into sobs. The purple girl sat down and wrapped her arms around her, hugging her gently.   
  
"There are other possibilities. This doesn't have to be the way. You must tell your brothers that Tyr, the one they believed has done them wrong, acted only in self defence...and not even just for him, it was for me too. His motives were not bad...he could have killed them all, but he left them alive. Anyway, I thought De Maistre said that crimes committed in war should not be treated in the same way...and as we are not from your community, surely it would count as war..." Magdalena looked up at Trance suspiciously. Her new acquaintance simply did not look the sort who would read ancient earth texts for pleasure. "You left a book out...I read it while you were crying...I thought you needed a bit of time alone," said Trance, slightly unconvincingly. "You must persuade your brothers not to kill him."  
  
Magdalena shook her head sadly. "They would not listen to me. They believe God has sent their power over this community. It is their role to discipline and punish. It is the only way we can be saved."  
  
"It's not the only way...there are lots of possibilities. Not everything everywhere is bad, you know. There are a lot of good things in the universe, a lot of good intentions."  
  
"I want to believe that...but why do the bad things always triumph? Anyway, my brothers will not listen." Magdalena began to sob again.  
  
"If they believe their power was given to them by something divine, the divine will have to send something to take it away," said Trance. "Will you help me?" Magdalena, still crying, did not respond. "If you want to save Harper..."  
  
"Maybe he does not deserve to be saved..."  
  
Trance shot her a quizzical look. "I thought you cared for him. Since you left him you've been in tears."  
  
"That's because I'm weak, but he's bad too. He loves you...but he was lusting after me. That's wrong." Magdalena was not quite sure why she was saying this. However, a nasty streak inside her was telling her that if Harper was saved he would not want her, he would want this purple creature and her life would be no different. At least dead, he would belong as much to her as to the other girl. At the same time, she desperately did NOT want him to die. Her confusion and grief were overwhelming.  
  
"He lusted after you?"  
  
"He...er, watched me bathing?"  
  
A smile flickered in the corner of Trances mouth. "Harper watched you naked?"  
  
"I wasn't naked! I was just partially dressed...and he was hiding in the shadows." This time Trance did laugh. It just seemed so typical of Harper, just like the way he drooled over Rommie. She accepted that was just the way he was.  
  
"That was...er, naughty of him...but surely he doesn't deserve to die for that? You haven't known many....boys, have you?"  
  
"My brothers are the only people who I have contact with. I'm of the ruling family line...we must discipline the people to save them...but we're untouchable."  
  
"OK...well, the thing about Harper...and plenty of others I guess, is that they just can't help themselves sometimes - with girls. If they're behaviour is nasty and threatening, then it's wrong. But, I don't think Harper is like that and, well, sometimes, you just have to forgive people."  
  
"But if it's a sin, then somebody must pay..."  
  
"Why? If the universe is chaos why should everything even itself out. It's not the only way..." here she broke off. This conversation could rage on forever. "Look, we're going to have to get moving. I need you to leave here. What I'm asking you to do is not easy. You must find our ship...it's crashed nearby. That's the easy part. Then you have to find this big, mean, scary Nietzschean and convince him he must come down here and rescue us. Do you think you can do that?"  
  
"I can't leave here. My brothers let nobody leave without permission..."  
  
"You must. If you feel anything at all for Harper, if you forgive him..." Magdalena sniffed. It the scale of all the suffering in the universe, and considering the predicament he was currently in, Harpers crimes seemed small and insignificant enough to forgive. She still resented the purple girl a little, but she realised she must be brave.  
  
"I'll try. What will you do?"  
  
"I'm not sure yet," said Trance. "But there are a lot of possibilities."  
  
...  
  
Harper lay curled up in the corner of the stone cell. He had not moved since Magdalena left him, and was still clutching the piece of Trance's clothing in his hand and it was still her that filled his thoughts. Somehow, he was not surprised at the situation that he found himself in. It had simple confirmed his original belief that bad things always happened to Seamus Harper! But, the thought of Trance, knowing she existed, knowing she cared for him a little, made it all slightly easier. There was something in the vast domain of living nature that was good, and somehow enduring, even though she was a mystery to him.  
  
Suddenly he heard the gong. "This is it," he thought to himself. "Any second now, they will come for me." He felt a lump in his throat and his body tensed up with fear. But nobody came. The gong went again, and this time he noticed it sounded kind of odd.   
  
"Bong, bong, bong!" it chimed. Harper couldn't miss the sense of irony in the fact that the gong sounded rather jolly. Still nobody came, and he pulled himself to his feet, standing on tiptoes to look out of the crack at the top of the door. He could hardly believe what he saw.  
  
Standing on the platform, bashing away at the gong as if it was a toy, was Trance.  
  
...  
  
"Bong, bong, bong!"  
  
"Hello everyone...I just thought, maybe you'd better execute me! I mean, there's lots and lots of evil in the universe and somebody's got to pay. So why not me!"  
  
"Bong, bong, bong!"  
  
People gathered around the platform, but did not dare to touch the mysterious intruder. Who was she? WHAT was she? Was she some sort of devil, or angel? There was no explanation. Magdalena's brothers emerged from one of the houses and made for the platform.  
  
They observed that this was the strange girl who had been with the Nietzschean who attacked them, but that was not the main reason she had to die. She had displayed the most disrespectful insubordination to their laws and traditions. She mocked them in front of their people. One of them grabbed her roughly, another began to set up the platform for execution, while the third began to fiddle with their intercom system so they could broadcast the events to the other League colonies. They would now have two executions to display.  
  
However, the intercom did not appear to be working and he could not open up any channel for broadcast.   
  
"We should go ahead anyway," said one. "The people must see that discipline cannot be avoided."  
  
"No," said the eldest. He knew that to transmit this would be good for the prestige of their colony. "We must wait until it is fixed. Take her away and put her with the other one."  
  
"Now you've got me, does that mean you don't have to kill Harper?" chirped Trance.  
  
"There are plenty of crimes to atone in the universe. Two deaths mean more will be saved."  
  
"That doesn't make any sense at all!" wailed Trance as she was thrown into the stone cell and the door was slammed behind her. She fell straight onto Harper, who had been watching from the door.  
  
"OW!" said Harper. "Mind my arm...what the hell are you trying to do? Save the universe?"  
  
"No...just you."   
  
Harper pulled her to him and they held each other tightly, saying nothing at all for several minutes.   
  
END OF PART FOUR  
  
  



	5. Part Five - Final Part

  
PART FIVE  
  
"You'd be proud of me," said Trance. "I broke their silly camera. I stole the thingy."  
  
"The thingy?" At any other time, Harper would have laughed at Trance's ditzy ways, but right now he just couldn't quite bring himself to. He'd dealt with the thought of his own death but Trance's was another matter. Now they had to get out of here, but he hadn't the faintest idea how. "Look, you've bought us time, Trance, but what are we going to do with it. Where's Tyr? Can't he get us out of here?"  
  
"I hope so. He didn't want to risk a rescue before communicating with The Andromeda, but I've sent Magdalena to get him."  
  
"Well, I sure hope she's good at being persuasive."  
  
"Maybe she could take her clothes off."  
  
Harper hadn't been expecting that. Actually, with everything that had happened he'd forgotten that little incident and had long since got over his initial wave of lust for the girl. Suddenly he felt rather cheap and dirty.  
  
"OK...look, I'm sorry. I just...couldn't help it. You'd sent me off alone in the dark, and it wasn't the best party I'd ever been to. Then suddenly there's this girl stripping! What was I supposed to do, take monastic vows? I didn't watch her for long, OK. And it meant nothing."  
  
"Maybe it's the fact that it meant nothing that's the problem. Magdalena was lonely...and she cares for you. You made her feel used."  
  
"Hey...she used me! Why did she bring me here..."  
  
"Nobody's totally innocent, Harper. I know, you were just having fun, and I forgive you. Just remember that, however pretty girls are, they have feelings...they're not just objects."  
  
"I know that," muttered Harper. "I have feelings too, y'know." He gazed into her lap, wondering what she really thought of him. Did Trance believe he was bad? If she did, maybe she was right. He certainly wasn't pure as driven snow.  
  
Trance lifted up her hand and gently brushed his hair back from his face. "I do know," she said. Harper let his eyes meet hers and he felt she could see into his very soul. She could see all his weaknesses...and all his goodness. Trance smiled.  
  
Then they heard the gong again. This time it just sounded once and there was no jolly ring to the bong. The executioners had replaced the thingy. This was it.  
  
...  
  
After that, things moved swiftly. Trance and Harper were fetched from the cell and taken down to the platform. Neither had been short of words in life, and they did not intend to be in death. The more they argued and the more the struggled, the better the chance that Magdalena and Tyr would have time to get there. And maybe, just maybe, they could convince these people that there were other possibilities.  
  
"Hey, look," shouted Harper. "The universe is a shit-hole...I know that. I've seen the shit. Believe me, I've slipped up in it more than a few times. But it's not ALL shit...so this God dude, whoever he is, must have made good as well as bad. Why is the shit always the answer?"  
  
The executioners were clearly not impressed by this argument and proceeded to tie Harper to a wooden block. Trance figured she might be able to put it more eloquently, but only partially succeeded.  
  
"So, there is a lot of bad, mysterious things in the universe, but there's not just one answer to it. There are hundreds of possible answers...thousands of different contingencies, all going off in different directions like little baby ants," Trance paused. Maybe this wasn't the time to wax lyrical on earth insect life. "If intentions are good, there's no reason that things will always turnout evil..." Trance stopped as she saw one of the executioners reach for the club. The possibilities were narrowing down fast. Fine words were not going to stop these guys. They didn't really care and they weren't listening to her. They just wanted blood.   
  
Trance thought quickly. What else had Magdalena said about the League of De Maistre? They believed something divine gave their leaders power to discipline to them. It was part of their God's plan. Well, something divine was going to have to take that power away - fast. The man raised the club over Harper. Trance saw the possibilities narrow even faster. They had slimmed down from about twelve a minute ago to just...two. Two? Trance looked up. Metres away from the platform she saw a large Nietzschean pushing his way through the terrified crowd, aiming a high guard forelance. In a split second he fired.  
  
The executioner screamed horribly, and tumbled backwards dropping the club. Within a moment, Tyr had taken out one of his brothers with a single shot. He now aimed for the third and would have fired had Trance not thrown herself in front of him.  
  
"Out of the way, girl!" thundered Tyr.  
  
"No! Violence is not the only possibility. There are other answers. These people must learn that."  
  
"Out of the way!"  
  
"No!"  
  
Tyr lowered the weapon, keeping very aware that the people in the crowd could turn on him any second. He was on his guard, ready for anything. He moved onto the platform, took hold of the remaining brother, and let Trance speak.   
  
"Please...you don't have to live this way. I know your lives have been bad since the fall of the Systems Commonwealth, but why make the suffering worse? Evil has not won. Time is not over yet. There are still thousands, no millions, of possibilities for the future and some of them are good."  
  
The crowd were silent. The remaining brother spat onto the floor. "Don't listen. She is the devil trying to corrupt you. If you believe her, you are truly weak and evil and shall burn in hell..."  
  
He was cut off by a small voice, crying out and set apart from the crowd. "No, please listen to her," said Magdalena. "She may not be right...but her intentions are good. And my brother's power has been taken away, it has happened so it must be part of God's plan. Maybe they were wrong." Trance looked at Magdalena and smiled.  
  
"There is a chance for good to triumph," continued Trance. "We know someone, a High Guard Captain, who is trying to restore the Systems Commonwealth. Why don't you join him ...I can't guarantee he'll succeed, but at least there is hope. Someone is trying to make sense of all the chaos in the universe." The crowd murmured to themselves. They were not convinced, but Trance knew she had sewn the seeds of doubt. She turned to Magdalena. "Can you convince them?"  
  
Magdalena shook her head. "I'm not sure..." Trance saw that there were tears running down her face and remembered that two of her brothers were dead, and the other must be either detained or persuaded that what he had always believed was wrong. There was a huge task ahead of this young woman. "I know somebody who can help you..." she said, compassionately. Our captain, Dylan   
Hunt, I just know he can sort you and your community out and get your people to join the Commonwealth. All might end well..." She hugged the girl to her, letting her cry.  
  
...  
  
Having locked away the remaining executioner, Tyr began to untie Harper. "About freakin' time. What took you?"  
  
Tyr grunted. "You're lucky I came at all. I couldn't fix the communications that you'd been messing about with. By the time that girl reached me I had realised I would have no choice but to come and rescue you or be left stranded on this damn place until the others found me."  
  
"Gee, thanks. Nice to know you care so much..." Harper stumbled rather shakily to his feet, but refused any further assistance from Tyr. Obviously, he was more than a little relieved that the Nietzschean had come for him. However, he was neither surprised nor impressed by his motives and reasoning, at least those that Tyr laid claim to. Anyhow, Harper was not about to bend over backwards to show his gratitude. He looked up at his rescuer with a smirk. "So, you admit it then, I'm a genius. You couldn't survive without the great Seamus Zelazny Harper, techno-God!"  
  
Tyr seized Harper by the collar and hauled him up so their faces were level. "Shut up or I will break your neck!" Harper rolled his eyes and considered pointing out that if he did it would make his efforts of the past few minutes rather pointless, but decided he was just too shattered to respond. As Tyr threw him back down, Trance dashed over and positioned herself between them.  
  
"This isn't helping!" she said, but she couldn't stop herself laughing a little. Maybe it wasn't all chaos. Some things were very predictable.  
  
...  
  
The tale that the three of them told to Dylan on their return almost convinced him that there was not sense in the universe and chaos did indeed reign.  
  
"So, you crashed the ship, fell down a hole in the ground...Harper, you saw what?...Trance, you went where?...Tyr, you attacked who?"  
  
However, he had been satisfied enough to travel down to the Troglodyte community with Beka to offer them his support and help. Rev had accompanied them, feeling that it would help these people to hear a little about his version of the Divine. Tyr decided he truly did need some time on his own, and disappeared into his quarters, leaving Trance and Harper to ponder what had gone before.   
  
Harper pulled the bloodstained piece of Trance's clothing out of his pocket and offered it back to her.  
  
"Is this supposed to be deeply symbolic of you and I and the bond between us? My sparkly purple material mixed with your blood?"  
  
"Nah," said Harper. "That would be kinda daft and anyway, it's pretty gross as it is. I just like that outfit...I figured you might be able to wash it and sew it back on so you can wear it again."  
  
Trance screwed up her nose. "Eeeeew, yuck. I don't think so Harper. I don't seem to develop the same lifelong attachment to items of clothing that you do. I'll find a new one."  
  
Harper stuffed the bit of material back in his pocket. "What do we do now, then?"  
  
"What do you mean?"  
  
"You know exactly what I mean. What are the possibilities for you and I, babe?"  
  
"There are thousands of possibilities."  
  
Harper pulled Trance into his arms, and kissed her briefly, but tenderly, on the lips. "I'd like to try a few. See if we can find some answers to all this chaos around us." Trance looked at him with an indecipherable but knowing expression.   
  
She did not break away from him, but Harper knew that the creature in his arms was an enigma that he could never explain. He sighed, and still holding the girl he loved, surrendered himself to the mysteries of the universe.  
  
THE END  
  
"There are all kinds of futures...anyone can foresee any number of possibilities all of which are constantly diverging. Contingencies arise, imperatives vanish, and all the while we tread our way through chaos and uncertainty never knowing which of hundreds of possible realities we could find ourselves in."  
  
"If you start with good intentions, you have a better chance of ending up with...good."  
  
- Trance Gemini, Forced Perspective  
  
Authors note: I would just like to apologise to all of you out there with better taste that me (probably most of you) for the terrible Mills and Boon-style last paragraph. I JUST COULDN'T HELP IT!!!  
  
Anyway, overall, please let me know if you liked it. Did it work? Oh, and should I have put it out in instalments like I did, or would people rather I put stuff all out at once? Thanks.  
  
Oh, oh and...Note to Maddy (and anyone else who read her review!!): I totally agree about the white rabbit - there must have been a few mad bunnies bouncing up and down in my head when I dreamt this one up. I'm just glad I didn't have the Queen of Hearts running on going "Off with her head"... hmmmm, "Trance and Harper in Wonderland" - now there's a thought. Aaaaaargh!!! Please - somebody stop me!!!  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



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